Bring me into the Light
by darkmickyangel
Summary: (EDIT: previously 'the things we are grateful for') My take on how Shura met and became Shiro's apprentice. non-slash, rated T for paranoia.


**A/N: I do not own Blue Exorcist or any of its characters.**

**Reviews always appreciated.**

Hungry, yes that was what they were, hungry. Meat, they needed meat. There was no meat here, just the corpses of those that had fallen on the battlefield, but they could smell it. The flesh of man. They moved through the field, fast and swift, not bothering to hide their presence. For as soon as they caught wind of food, there was no stopping them, they, the hydra.

They rounded the corner of the valley, passing up the skulls situated on the pikes, warning people against their destruction. The prey they had smelled was standing up on a large pillar of rock situated in the middle of the valley, they grinned and gave out a hunting cry as they increased their speed, eager for the food.

The first click came from the prey, as it lifted a metal box to its mouth. The prey hadn't shrunk in fear at their cry, meant to stun and induce fear. Instead a click resonated in the night, and the sizzle of the prey lighting something in their mouth. Then another click, as a large gun was leveled at them.

They didn't hesitate to give a cry of challenge. So this human had come to try and end them? So be it, others had come before. In larger numbers and in greater mass. They all became prey eventually.

They, the hydra charged, tongues flickering out to taste the air in anticipation.

_Chi-chink _**BAM**_. _

The prey fired off a round from the gun, the shot's echo ricocheting off the canyon walls. One of the larger heads lost an eye, but they were not slowed, what was one eye of hundreds? They would regenerate soon anyway.

_Chi-chink _**BAM**_. _

_Chi-chink _**BAM**_. _

_Chi-chink _**BAM**_. _

More shots were leveled off, each one breaking the silence of the night with a thunder crack, followed by the double click of a reload. For each crack, one eye was lost. Even when the hydra dived to the side to circle, the prey's aim was perfect. A small tingle of fear bubbled, but it soon became anticipation.

Finally, a prey worthy of the hunt.

The hydra circled, and then the outer righter most head, eager for blood, lunged like most snakes do, fangs bared and as swift as the wind. The head struck the rock pillar, destroying it as its maw dug into the earth. While the others hung back, waiting for their eyes to regenerate.

A miss, the man dodged the initial lunge, jumping high into the air.

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

_Chi-chink _**BAM**

The head screamed in pain as it fell blind. The man landed on the blinded head with a roll, and the head next to the first lunged in from the right. The mouth snapped shut, ricocheting off the neck of the first head; which in its eagerness had embedded itself into the rock pillar and gotten itself stuck. The maw closed with enough force to break steel.

It missed by a hair. The man had continued his roll, sliding down the slope of the long neck of his first attacker.

A third head, younger than most so thusly shorter, saw its opportunity. Rather than lunge in from the side, came up the length of the first neck, directly to where the man was sliding. It opened its mouth, fangs dripping venom.

The human brought all of its limbs together, and slid into the mouth, right in between the two deadly razors. The head gagged at the feeling of the human's boots striking the back of its throat, but swallowed the prey victoriously all the same. It was halfway down the throat, when the burning sensation began. Hot and poisonous. It reeked of _holy_.

The head twisted the head in pain, and other heads began to bite the neck off from the whole. For if that poison reached the whole- they would all burn. As soon as the neck, and head was removed and flung away- the human emerged from the neck, cutting itself free with a small blade in a twisting motion. The human seemed to linger in the air, raising its gun down at the hydra. Its eyes, glasses no longer reflecting in the moon light were red. Red and cold, and black.

Fear settled deep into the creature's mind. This human was no prey, it was a hunter- one that hunted them. The hunter smirked as a head lunged up to pluck the prey right out of the air.

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

The bullet pierced between the eyes of the closest head, a burning holy bullet embedding itself in the brain. The head and neck fell to the ground, dead from the mass, making it hard for the creature to maneuver. The human imbedded its short blade in another neck as it fell, stopping his fall. The monster screamed in pain at the gash, trying to throw the hunter off, putting the whole body into the motion, but the human merrily abandoned the spot, and then suddenly the hydra couldn't find the human. The heads- they were still blind! Why hadn't the eyes regenerated?! Where was the hunter?! The hydra thrashed around, trying to find the human within its forest of necks.

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

They screamed, rearing back, as their body was struck. They could feel a blade sink into their flesh, right into their chest.

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

_Chi-chink _**BAM **

The human had made a hole, a giant hole in their chest, they could feel it, and they could feel the human placing something inside the flesh, even as it healed. _Chink_, **whump.**

The hydra screamed, as holy water was released inside its body cavity, right next to its heart. All the flesh around it was immediately burned beyond regeneration, and the burn began to spread, melting flesh of the body, trailing slowly up to its heads. The pain was beyond imagination. The great beast fell to the ground.

They, the collective mind, tumbled off the main head, and into the mud. It looked up in fear, as if saw the rest of the body dying, wracked with pain. The sound of footsteps came off from the side. The mass lifted the sword up, staring fearfully as the hunter emerged from the mass of writhing limbs, jumping from one neck to the next effortlessly.

It landed in a crouch not but a yard from them. They raised the sword, and with the desperation of fear, charged. The figure jumped back, and they missed the swing. The bloodied hand of the hunter's came around, and grabbed both tiny hands holding the sword. With a twist, the sword tumbled out of their holder's hand, and the hunter kicked the rest of the mass away from the one.

_Chi-chink._

This one looked up in fear at the hunter. His dark clothes soaked in their blood, saliva, and holy water. The red eyes hidden behind two flat moons. The gun was pointed directly at it, the large barrel smoking from use. It managed to pull back its own hands and backed away from the gun in fear, but the hunter followed them, sheathing its sword and reaching into the folds of their clothes. This one felt something against their back, and knew it was the pillar the hunter had stood on. They were cornered between the hunter and the wall.

The hunter pulled out a white box from their clothes, and pulled a small stick out from the box with their mouth. Then, after putting the white box away, pulled out a silver one, that produced a small flame when activated. The hunter lit the stick in its mouth and put the silver box away with the white one. The stick flared as the hunter inhaled, and it exhaled smoke, looking down on it.

This one and the hunter stared each other down, the rest of them slowly dying off behind them, this one dying bit by bit with them. This one shuddered, and in desperation, lunged at the human, but the hunter easily kicked them back against the wall.

"Oi, oi, are you a fucking idiot?" the human asked, "do you not see this?" it asked, shifting the gun to indicate the weapon, "try that again and I'll blow your brains out."

"Then do it!" this one screamed defiantly, shuddering when several more of them fell into death, "end us quickly! Why leave us with this torture?"

"us?" the human took the stick out of his mouth, flicking the ash of the burnt stuff to the ground, "oh, you mean the hydra?"

"yes, who else would we be referring to?"

"Hnn, that snake got into your brain pretty good didn't it?" the hunter contemplated the dying mass behind him, "figures, you're what? five? six?"

"We are not a snake, we are hydra," this one spat bitterly.

The hunter stared down at them, his eyes hidden by the light reflecting off his glasses.

"You really think you're one of them, do you?" it asked.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" this one spat.

The hunter sighed, and dropped the foul smelling stick to the ground. It then reached forward with its free hand, and picked this one up by the back of its tunic, hauling them off their feet.

"Let this one go! What are you doing?!" it screamed, as the hunter carried it back to the mass.

"You see this, kid?" the hunter asked, shoving it towards the others, "_that _is a demon. A really, really big one with some eating issues. And you see that sword?" the human pointed with its gun to the lost blade, "that's how it possesses people. Whoever picks it up without proper training gets taken over by the sword, and does its bidding. In this case, kill things so it can gain a physical form." The hunter and this one made eye contact, and it frowned, looking them in the eye, "you picked up this shitty sword, and became its vessel, nothing more."

"Lies!" this one shouted, fearfully. Because it was part of the whole, one of many. It was where it belonged. In a sudden burst of fear, this one tried to get away from the hunter, but to no avail, "this one is one of them!" this one said adamantly, feeling water trickle down its face, only a few of them were left now, choking on their own decaying fluids and the acid that was bringing them all to their doom, "we will be one, together until the end, you will see!"

The hunter didn't say anything, just turned and watched the last few heads die. It didn't even take ten minutes. Then the carcass fell still, a large pile of death. This one felt a large portion of itself go with it, but it still remained. Alone, weak, and scared. No longer a multitude, but a singularity. Confusion, and grief. Why? Why hadn't the hydra taken it with it? Were they not the same? It had promised that it wouldn't abandon them, like everyone else. Why!?

"Sorry kid, but that's not how the world works," the hunter said, placing them down.

The one sunk to their knees, unable to stop the tears. The hunter left her, but came back. It looked up at him both in fear and confusion. He had the sword wrapped up in a black cloth, strapped with a grey rope over its shoulder. It knew, not because it could see the blade, but she could feel it.

Maybe… if she got the blade back- the others would come back as well. Yes! They could start all over! She wouldn't be alone again. She lunged for the blade, only to be stopped by a hand on her head, one that held her back no matter how she pushed or flailed her arms.

"Give them back! Give them back! It's mine!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face, "That sword is mine!"

"hmmm, let me think about this," the hunter placed a hand on his chin, but answered immediately, "no" the human said, before turning and walking away.

She threw her arms down, and stomped on the ground in frustration, yelling and throwing a fit. However the hunter kept on walking, ignoring her outburst. After a second she ran after him, planning to take the sword by force- only to find the one face to face with the gun.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," the hunter warned. A long, deep howl came off in the distance. The sound of a pack of hell hounds out for blood. Normally it wasn't anything to worry about, they were no threat to they, the hydra. But it didn't have the others now, they were alone…

"Damn it," the hunter cursed, and lunged out at her suddenly.

The girl squeaked in fear, as the human lifted her up, and threw her over his shoulder, and began jogging away from the corpse as fast as he could.

"Put me down!" the one yelled, her small fists hitting the human's back, who ignored them easily.

"You want to be eaten alive?!" the man asked, and she stilled.

The human was… carrying her away from danger? But… why? They weren't the same. They were singularities. Why would he want to save her from the hell hounds? She tried to figure this out, until she saw them- nothing but skin and bones, a pack of black dogs with glowing eyes.

"Uh, uh- hunter?" she asked, her voice high with fear, staring at the pack. The demon beasts swarmed the corpse, but they gave chase once they saw them. There were at least thirty of them.

"I know!" the hunter said, fear also in his voice. The gun came over the other shoulder-

**BAM**

The gun went off, and the one's ears rung with the explosion. It didn't know if the hunter had gotten one- though it did seem to make the beasts hesitate for a second. Only for a second, then their hunting cries rose into the night sky.

The hunter slid to a stop suddenly, looking back at the pack, then at whatever was in front of him, "fuck, this'll have to do," he grunted, and this one felt herself be hefted off his shoulder. It looked like part of the canyon wall had collapsed recently, with large boulders and rocks piled against it. Between two large rocks was a crevice, only about four feet wide, and six feet tall, a few feet back. Just enough for the two of them to squeeze into. The hunter went in first, and he pulled the one against his chest tightly, facing the entrance. He shoved his short blade into her hands, a meter long piece of metal with a black hilt.

"Just stab them and keep them back, okay kid?" the hunter said, as he reloaded his gun right in front of her face, the bullets sliding in with deadly grace. Then he started saying words, but she didn't know what they meant. The words were… they were light, almost buoyant. They also had a rhythm to them, like a song but not quite. It made something in her stir… old memories of a woman… things she could almost remember from the words' warmth. Then the air in front of the crevice burnt into light, and she flinched back into the hunter's chest because it stung. The light dimmed, but didn't go away. She blinked at the white lines in front of her and realized what the man had done.

He had made a shield, just a few feet in front of them.

A shield out of the light and words that he was still chanting. The hell hounds came at them, swarming the crevice. They couldn't get through the light, but the hunter's bullets could. She didn't think her ears would ever stop ringing. The shield didn't go all the way to the ground or to the top, and they had to compensate. She jabbed down at beasts at their feet, killing several with direct hits through the skull, but mostly just giving cuts and keeping them at bay. Every now and then, the hunter would fire upwards, blowing away anything above them. He never stopped chanting the words, the light never faltered. After what felt like forever, the demons backed off, and then they fled all together.

"Thank _god_," the hunter sighed, and the shield fell with a blink, "I never thought the sun would rise." He lowered his gun, and slumped back against the rock wall. She turned to look at the man, sword still clutched to her chest. The hunter looked tired, the light wasn't reflected off his glasses completely, and she could see bags forming under his eyes. She turned to the entrance of the cavern, and stepped gingerly over the bodies of the blood hounds. The canyon looked to be empty, at the far end, she could see blue beginning to cut through the darkness, the clouds were purple and red and orange… and it was warm. The sunlight was warm.

"Probably been a while since you've seen the sunrise, am I right?" the hunter's voice made her turn, finding him crawling out of the crevice. He lit another stick, looking over at the sun.

"It's warm" the girl admitted, looking at the sunrise. The hydra didn't like the sun, it had feared it, so she had as well. She had never known, or even asked why. The sun looked beautiful, how could it be something to fear?

"You did a great job back there," the hunter said, he kneeled down beside her, and reached forward slowly, taking his blade from her. She had been holding the sword in a death grip without realizing it. The man wiped it off on his coat, and put it back in its scabbard, "you're a real natural. You got a name, kid?" the man smiled genuinely.

Name? Yes, she remembered vaguely that she had a name once. The woman had given her a name, but she couldn't remember it, only being left behind- alone. The woman had abandoned her, but then… she had found the sword, and the hydra. They had promised they would be one, but that had been a lie. She felt more tears prick at the corner of her eyes, "no, I… I don't even. I thought I was a hydra, but I'm… I'm _not,_" she scrubbed her cheeks trying to rid them of water, all the emotions of the last night falling down onto her little mind all at once, she let out a sob, and found that she couldn't stop. It was just too much- being abandoned again. She was alone again, alone and scared.

She felt the hunter's arms wrap around her. His arms were strong, and he was warm, like the sun. The hunter smelled like blood, the stick in his mouth stank, and the holy water tingled a bit against her skin. Yet she found herself leaning into the hug, clutching at his black coat.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay" the man ran his hand through her hair, it felt nice. The man picked her up again, but kept her in his arms. He held her for a long time, until her tears stopped and even for a little while after that. By then they were out of the canyon, and walking through the plains above the canyon walls. He had tossed away his burnt stick, and had her drink some water out of a flask. It reminded her of how hungry she was, and she heard her stomach growl, which made the hunter laugh for some reason.

"I guess it is about that time" he said, and gingerly placed her down on a rock. He pulled something out of one of his pockets, and handed it to her. It was meat, but dry. Tough and chewy, with something that made it not taste like meat.

"Yuck!" the girl spat, wiping her mouth, "this is disgusting!"

"Tough luck it's all I've got," the man shrugged, chewing on his own meat, "it's either that or nothing."

The girl glared up at him for a bit, then looked around, seeing if there was something else to eat. Usually they, the hydra would catch something… but she wasn't a hydra anymore. She took another bite of the not-meat grumpily. She chewed bitterly, looking over at the hunter, who was looking at some large paper. Now that she could see, thanks to the sun, she got a good look at him for the first time. The human had white hair, but he wasn't old. Even the small beard on his chin was white, as was his eyebrows, which always seemed to be furrowed. His glasses were round, and looked stupid. But every time the light caught them, they reflected like two moons, it made her shudder involuntarily. His eyes were red, when she could see them, like the blood soaked into both of their clothes, which were black. All of what he wore was black, except for a white square at his neck, and the brown leather of his ammo pouches and straps. He didn't look like much, but she remembered how he had taken down not just the hydra, but made the wall with words.

"You know, staring is rude," the man said, a smile in his voice as he caught her eyes.

"How can you be so strong, when you're alone?" she asked plainly.

The hunter folded up the paper he was looking at, placing it back in its designated pouch, "simple, I'm strong. In fact, I'm probably the strongest human you'll ever meet," the man said, pulling out one of the foul smelling sticks.

"How is that?" she asked, "How can you be strong by yourself?"

The man lit the stick in his mouth and returned his lighter to his pocket, blowing out smoke as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, "training, mostly. Killing big, bad things is just my job."

"But you do it all alone?"

"Not always, sometimes I have others that help me. I rely on others no more than the next person. Besides, no one's ever truly alone."

"I am" the girl admitted quietly, looking down at the wrapper the not-meat had been in.

"No, you aren't. God looks after all of us, whether you realize it or not."

"Who's god?" the girl asked, and the man smiled, holding up both his arms to the world around him.

"God he's the ruler of all. He is my father, your father, the father of the hydra, even. He created this earth, this grass, and that sky. Me, you, everything." the man looked off across the plain, his expression one the girl had no way of deciphering, "in the same way, he is everything, because he made it from himself. In that way, we are never truly alone."

"I don't… feel him," the girl placed a hand on her chest, and looked around.

"You're not going to feel him like you did the hydra. The hydra was invading your consciousness and controlling you. God is just there, silent and supporting. Just think," the man took a breath through his stick, the end glowing, when he spoke again smoke trailed out of his mouth, "he led me to you, and through me, he has freed you from possession. When the hell hounds attacked us, I called for help, and he gave us a shield."

"That light… was god?" the girl asked tentatively, and the man nodded.

"Yes, it was my faith in him solidified."

Which made no sense, but the girl didn't want to ask for clarification and look stupid. Her eyes trailed away from the smiling hunter's face, and latched onto the sword still behind the man's back. Wrapped up and… and she wondered if getting it from the man would help fill this giant void in herself that was threatening to consume her.

"I want my sword back," the girl declared, and held out her hand.

The man frowned, "no"

"I helped you some with the dogs earlier, I deserve at least some kind of payment, right?"

This made the man chuckle, "definitely half demon- what with that hair and that attitude. Fifty bucks to me," He leaned back, and took another breath through the stick. "here's what we'll do." the man said after a while, "if you can defeat me in a sword fight, I'll give it back. Until then, it's mine."

"… a sword fight?" the girl asked warily.

"That way, you prove to me that you can handle the sword."

"I don't have a sword to fight with," the girl said hesitantly.

"well, then we'll have to get you one then, yeah? Some new clothes as well, and some real food." the girl blinked owlishly at the man as he stood up, and tossed his stick to the ground, rubbing it into the dirt with his toe. The man held out his hand, "come on, we've got a long way to go,"

The girl took the man's hand hesitantly, and followed him, not just to the man's pick up point, but into a whole new world. One where surviving day to day wasn't always uncertain, and meals came not as raw flesh, but cooked rice and beef. Where the sun wasn't something to dread, but a warm presence against her skin.

**A/N: I do not own Blue Exorcist or any of its characters.**

**This is my version as to how Shiro and Shura met, you get a small glimpse in the anime, but nothing other than that. Just expanding on the awesomeness that is this series.**

**Reviews always appreciated, especially any opinions about the fight sequence, I'm trying to figure out some things and want to know ya'lls opinons.**

EDIT: some spelling and grammar errors were fixed. I also re-did some of the fight scene to make it flow easier )ii hope._ the title and summary change are cause... well lets just face it they were bad.


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